You have found the best Crowdfunding Site for your project.
Here are 23 pieces of advice for running a successful Crowdfunding Campaign
1) Set up a social media pages that fit with your brand and product, such as Twitter, Facebook, and
Google+, for your project. These are great platforms for sharing content and getting in front of new
audiences.
a) Set up social media accounts only on site you will be able to maintain and update regularly.
b) Find where you think your potential audience is. Are they are Google+? Are they on Facebook?
c) Well before your campaign you should be reaching out to people and building your support base
so when you launch you’re ready to go.
2) Before you launch your project, be sure to start conversations with interested parties.
a) Tell friends , family, peers and contacts you are starting a campaign soon.
b) Message blogs, sites and Facebook groups that would be interested in your project ahead of
time so when you do launch you aren’t just cold calling them about your project.
3) You project’s video should be less than 4 minutes long.
a) Treat it like a short pitch, with more information in the description for those who want to learn
more.
b) The shorter the video the better, so keep it short and to the point. Longer videos are less likely
to be watched and less likely to be watched in their entirety.
4) For your video you can either talk in front of the camera and let potential backers connect you with
your work, or you can do a voice over footage of your project and what you are creating.
a) If you really don’t want to be in your video, you can add text or have someone else narrate, but
a connection between creator and backer definitely helps.
5) In your description you can go into a lot more detail about what you are doing here, who you are,
and how you plan on completing the project.
a) Use the FAQ section at the bottom to organize quick responses to common questions people
may have.
i) You can always add to the FAQ section as more questions come up once you launch.
6) Outline the main point of your project quickly and have it front and center. What is it that you are
doing and why should anyone care? After they get that then you can go into more detail for those
who want it.
7) If you have a working prototype be sure to show it off in a video to visually paint a picture of how
the finished product will work.
a) If you don’t have a working prototype, you should still try to show how things will work with a
mock up, though clearly explain it as a mock up and not the finished work.
8) Remember to encourage backers to support your project as ever they can. If they can’t donate
money, remind them that sharing your project online greatly helps you out as well.
a) You can supply backers with links to related websites and news sites for them to post on and
share to to focus their efforts.
9) Not all of your backers will be familiar with crowdfunding, so be sure to explain to them how it
works.
a) This is more for people who don’t know much or anything about crowdfunding.
10) Use images to break up long walls of text in your description and to drive home your points.
a) Don’t use too many big images back to back, but enough to spread out the paragraphs for easier
reading.
b) Images are also a good way to illustrate what you are offering for rewards at each pledge level.
11) Have a wide range of pledge levels, though don’t bog people down with too many. 10 is more than
enough and less is fine.
a) $1 or $2 pledges don’t bring in much but allow people to back a little and gets them involved in
your project so they can keep updated on it.
b) Depending on your rewards you may offer a slightly higher pledge level next at $5-$15. These
are people who are really interested in your project, but may not have much to spare.
c) $25 pledge levels are the most common for crowdfunding projects, so make sure you offer
something quality here.
d) $34-$80 is usually the next step up, as these are people who are very interested in your project
and can give more.
e) $100-$200 are bigger pledges and are generally driven by people who really want the reward
being offered.
f) Be sure to include a pledge level for $500-$1000 as there could always be someone who is really
interested in your project and rewards and can give much more than the average person.
12) Rewards have to be related to your project and help drive people to back at higher levels.
a) Good rewards give the backer something and allow them to feel like they are a part of the
project.
b) Make sure that you calculate in the cost of producing, organizing and shipping rewards. Don’t
get blindsided by hidden costs such as shipping internationally or gas money needed!
c) Usually people will back your project because they like what you are creating and want a piece
of it.
13) Remember that rewards do not always have to be physical items and trinkets, but can be as simple
as letting someone name a feature, getting their name on a wall of contributors, or getting to into
beta testing.
14) When thinking of rewards, place yourself in a backer’s position. Would you want that reward? If not,
what would you want instead?
15) Post updates regularly to show you are active and dedicated to your project.
a) Be sure to have an Update posted to the project from day 1.
b) Don’t post more than 1 time a day and don’t let more than 3 days go by without a new update
being posted.
16) Updates are a great place to let backers know how things are going, any news or updates for the
project, as well a place to go into more detail on the behind the scenes process of your work.
a) Never post excessively negative updates as backers will judge the project based on how it looks
to them as well as how they feel the creator feels about the project.
17) Reply to all backer questions and comments as soon as you can. Unanswered questions look bad.
a) For commonly asked questions be sure to add them to the FAQ section.
b) Always stay professional when replying to comments, even negative or “trolling” comments.
18) Set your project to run between 35-45 days.
a) Shorter and it will be over before you gain any traction, longer and you risk losing backer urgency.
19) During your campaign you should be actively messaging and contact other sites, blogs and groups
about your project.
a) There’s a fine line between letting them know about your project and spamming
i) Building a relationship by previously contacting a site can help your posting seem less like
spam and be more appealing to them.
b) Look for related interest and news sites that are along the theme of your project.
c) Set aside a few hours a day to just find and reach out to new sites to share your project with.
20) Directly messaging people and taking the time to write personal emails can greatly help your
project.
a) Most people can tell when they are being mass mailed and will be more likely to ignore your
message entirely.
b) If you haven’t messaged someone before, try to break the ice first before bringing up your
campaign.
i) This is more so for friends and connections than for websites but it can still help them
consider sharing your campaign more if they’re been in touch with you previously.
21) Get to know your network before hand. Who do you know that knows someone that can help you
out? Ask your friends and connections if they know people who would be interested in your project
and product and ask them to introduce you.
22) Take advantage of gigs on Fiverr to help spread the word about your crowdfunding campaign and to reach new
audiences.
a) Spam bots will not help you, so aim for gigs that get you more organic sharing and will get the
attention of real people.
23) Know that is takes a lot of work to get a crowdfunding project to be successful and that it’s not free
money; you have to work for it!
Here is a video from one of my favorite all-time marketers:
In this video Matthew Lesko is pitching crowdfunding as FREE MONEY. It may be true that you can post a project
on most crowdfunding sites for no up-front fees but the work listed above has a cost. The economic principle is knownas “opportunity cost”, simply meaning that while you are working hour after hour on your crowdfunding campaign, you
could be doing something else. So although the video below has some great points – Crowdfunding is NOT free money.
